


Will the.. sorcerer?

by Notiliah



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Good Morgana (Merlin), M/M, Merlin and Will are absolutely smitten for each other, Misunderstandings, Multi, Slight hints at Merthur, arthur doesnt know how tf to express?? feelings??
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:13:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22232341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Notiliah/pseuds/Notiliah
Summary: Will somehow 'magically' manages to stay alive after being shot while saving Arthur's life. Arthur feels conflicted about the whole 'magic is bad' thing now, because this 'sorcerer' just saved his life and clearly isn't.. bad? Then Merlin and Will suddenly start dating?? And Will is coming to Camelot with them?So basically, Arthus still believes that Will is a sorcerer, and tries to warm up to the idea of Will using his 'magic' for good and to help Camelot. Meanwhile, Will has to pretend he's this all mighty good sorcerer while knowing absolutely nothing of magic, and Merlin is just enjoying the wild ride.
Relationships: Merlin/Will (Merlin)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 43





	1. Whoops

**Author's Note:**

> This is just for fun and to mess around with this idea. You can clearly tell I was losing my shit trying to write a summary for this, but I hope I got the general idea across ahfdskfsdf

“You.. you are a sorcerer..” Arthur said, shaking his head in shock. Merlin was too busy handling Will’s wound to even pay attention to Arthur. Will was clearly in pain but seemed to be very amused at the situation, smiling brightly.

“Yeah! And I also totally saved your life with it.” Will laughed.

“Will!” Merlin warned, glaring at his friend.

“He already knows Merlin.” Will huffed. “Might as well humor him.”

“This isn’t funny!” Arthur protested. “Magic is bad and corrupts. If you were in Camelot right now you would-“

“But we’re not on Camelot’s lands, we’re in Ealdor.” Will shrugged, wincing when Merlin tightened the bandage around his chest.

“Merlin talk some sense into him!” Arthur was obviously conflicted and Merlin felt just the tiniest bit bad about it, but he really didn’t feel like playing along with the whole ‘magic is bad’ thing today.

“Will is right, he saved everyone today and most importantly he saved YOU.” Merlin pointed out. “He pushed you aside and took an arrow to the chest Arthur. Even if you think magic is bad, Will clearly is not.”

Arthur seemed stunned at his speech and Merlin felt the instant regret sink in. Will’s expression seemed just as stunned, clearly not expecting Merlin to stand up for magic in Arthur’s presence.

Without a word Arthur stood up and left Will’s house, and to Merlin’s relief he didn’t show any sign of being mad. He just seemed the tiniest bit confused. He was sure Arthur was just going to leave the situation behind them.

..But what if Arthur tried to hurt Will in the end? What would Merlin even do? Would he take the blame for him? Reveal that he was actually the one who-

“Merlin..“ Will’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Everything will be fine my friend.” Will smiled, putting his hand on his shoulder. “Now.. about that kiss.”

Oh yeah..

That kiss.

That one kiss Merlin gave Will like 10 minutes ago when Will was dying and Merlin was trying to hide the fact he was murmuring a spell to save his fucking life?

But even so, maybe it had been a wish of Merlin for a few years now.

“Yeah.. listen Will..” Merlin stared into Will’s eyes and shook his head. “I kissed you to hide the fact I was casting a spell to heal you, but uhh..”

Will raised an eyebrow in amusement, he has been Merlin’s best friend for years and years and knew him through and through. He already knew the answer anyway. “Seems like someone has an embarrassing little crush on his childhood friend.”

“Oh fuck you.” Merlin grumbled, crossing his arms. “Why do all of my friends find it so amusing to tease me?”

“It’s because your angry face is kind of cute.” Will pointed out, laughing at Merlin’s confused face. “But uhh, Merlin does this count as a confession ?”

“I.. I guess so?” Merlin said. It had taken him years and years to even process he had a thing for Will, so it was kind of refreshing to have his ‘confession’ be this lighthearted and.. casual. Just like they always are around each other.

“Well, would you like to hear my answer?” Will asked with a cheeky grin.

“Do I?” Merlin asked with a wince.

The whole atmosphere turned serious the moment Will gripped Merlin’s hand in his. “I would like to formally start courting you, if you would allow it.”

“Formally?” Merlin asked.

“Yes, I know I’m not the most serious person in the world but I take this very seriously.. I take you seriously, Merlin.” Will said, and Merlin had no idea he would ever hear such heart melting words coming from him of all people.

“I accept.”

* * *

“I don’t know Morgana, maybe Merlin could be right for once. All Will did was save the village and.. save me as well.” Arthur sighed, leaning against the wall. “And Merlin clearly trusts the guy enough to.. kiss him.” He said while making some hand motions to exaggerate.

“Well, I’m kind of surprised you even considered the opposite from what Uther has been brainwashing you with for years.” Morgana said, genuinely surprised.

“I know.. But I’ve always felt kind of.. iffy about the whole magic is bad thing anyway. Especially the whole,. execution part of it.” Arthur sighed.

“You’ve always had a good heart, Arthur.” Morgana smiled warmly.

“So what should I do?” Arthur asked.

“What do you mean what should you do?” Morgana asked back.

“Well, last night I overheard Merlin and Will talk and they seem to have become a.. thing.” Arthur spat out, clearly having a lot of trouble with it.

“Oh so they are courting now?” Morgana asked, genuinely happy for her friend.

“Yes.. yes it would seem so. But what if this means Will wants to come to Camelot with Merlin?” Arthur exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “We would have a sorcerer amongst us!”

“What makes you think we don’t already have sorcerers among us?” Morgana pointed out. “And like you said, Will isn’t ‘bad’.”

“...No, he isn’t.” Arthur sighed. “Maybe.. Maybe he could even help. Use his magic to help us and help Camelot.”

Morgana couldn’t believe she was even having a conversation like this with Arthur in the first place, it almost seemed like a beautiful dream. She found out about her own magic thanks to Merlin who had been secretly teaching her how to control her powers for weeks now. She also knew that Will clearly wasn’t the sorcerer Arthur thought he was and that he was just covering for his.. friend? Lover?

“I think you’re right.” Morgana said. “There are certain situations where magic could be useful, right?”

“Yeah! Yeah like when someone’s really sick or, when there’s a magical beast... Or when an evil sorcerer attacks Camelot again.” Arthur said, nodding to himself. “Yes that’s exactly it! Will could be our secret good sorcerer!”

* * *

“I could be a what now?” Will asked confused.

“Our secret good sorcerer.” Arthur said. “You can help us in situations where.. good magic.. could be useful. And in exchange, I won’t tell anyone of your magic and keep you safe.”

“Uhh..” Will glanced at Merlin who seemed to wear a neutral expression, but Will could see the absolute mental breakdown Merlin was having internally.

“Well.. I was planning on coming with Merlin anyway so I guess I have no choice.” Will said. “I uhh, I’m not the most powerful sorcerer around so I’m-“

“Nonsense! You conjured a whole tornado the other day. Don’t humble yourself.” Arthur laughed.

“Ah yes, the tornado.. that I conjured.” Will laughed awkwardly.

“Well that’s settled then, William.” Arthur let out a sigh in relief.

“Don’t ever fucking call me William again.”

* * *

After Will had packed his belongings and Merlin had bid farewell to his mother, the group got on their horses and headed back to Camelot.

Gwen and Will instantly hit it off, conversing for hours and hours. Morgana and Merlin had been conversing as well, just not out loud.

Telepathically Morgana had told Merlin every word that Arthur told her the other day. Merlin clearly seemed taken a back but also pleasantly surprised. The only problem was that Will wasn’t the sorcerer Arthur thought he was.

“So, Will.” Merlin and Morgana snapped out of their conversation to listen to Arthur talk. “How long have you been practicing magic?”

“You uhh.. seem very interested my lord.” Will answered.

“Yes, if we are going to be ‘working together’, I want you to always be 100% honest with me about everything.” Arthur said.

“Ah yes, alright..” Will nodded. “Well the magic thing started since.. since birth.”

“Since birth?” Arthur asked surprised. “So you didn’t learn it?”

“Well, some sorcerers have had magic since the day they were born. It’s just as normal as a birthmark for them.” Will explained, and Merlin was actually glad Will knew what he was talking about. If Will started feeding Arthur misinformation, all of this process would have been for nothing.

“Really? So.. it truly is something they can’t do anything about?” Gwen suddenly piped in.

“Yes, but the decision whether or not to use it for good is up to the person themselves in the end. But it so happens that usually the worst kind of people are always the loudest, and no one ever sees the good people in the background.” Will laughed a bit to ease the tension. Sometimes he really sounded like a wise old man.

Merlin was almost swooning at Will’s words. Hearing words like these was almost like a wet dream come true and Morgana gave him a knowing look.

“So you know more people who use magic for good?” Arthur asked.

“Ah yes.” Will glanced at Merlin briefly, who shot him a shy smile. “A few.”

* * *

When they arrived in Camelot, they all went back to their normal lives. Gaius had offered Will some work as his assistant, relieving Merlin of quite a lot of work in the meantime. He already was busy enough being Arthur’s slave (manservant).

“Who would have thought that you off all people would end up being a physician assistant?” Merlin wondered, staring at Will and Gaius brewing something awful smelling.

“Maybe if you had paid attention whenever we went to gather herbs in the past you could have been one too.” Will said, shaking his head.

“Oh yeah I’m sooo jealous of you right now.” Merlin snorted, returning his gaze to his magic book. “Whew… all the fun I could have been having brewing whatever that is.”

“You’re right Merlin, being Arthur’s manservant must be a million times more fun.” Will said, Gaius bursting out laughing next to him.

* * *

“So, have you and Merlin done it yet?”

Will almost choked on his own spit, turning around to stare at Arthur in shock.

“Excuse me?!”

“Wait that’s not what I-“ Arthur cursed. “I mean like have you courted him yet?”

“Arthur I know you want me to be this good sorcerer guy right now but if you’re actually genuinely interested in our sex life that is going to change very quickly-“

“No! No I swear that just came out wrong!” Arthur said, wincing.

Will looked into his eyes and sighed. “I believe you.. and to answer your question, I’m courting Merlin according to our customs so it’s taking longer that I would have liked.. but I am determined to do it this way.”

“So.. you basically haven’t even held hands yet?” Arthur asked.

Will groaned and hid his head in his hands. “You summoned me for magic talk not to talk about my frustration about holding hands with Merlin.”

“Yes, you’re right.” Arthur said, shaking his head. “It’s just that, Merlin is sort of my friend or something so..”

“....friend or something?” Will said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah technically we can’t be friends but.. We sort of are.” Arthur tried to explain. “Like we are secret friends.. Merlin listens to me and treats me as he would any other guy. I help and listen to him in return, so we sort of benefit each other.. so we are kind of like friends with benefits? WAIT NO THAT’S NOT-“

* * *

“You know Merlin, I think Arthur might have the slightest crush on you.” Will pointed out. He was sitting on Morgana’s bed, watching Morgana and Merlin do their weekly magic practice.

“Just a slight one?” Morgana asked with a laugh, earning both of them a glare from Merlin.

“You two have truly become delusional.” Merlin glared at the two of them, clearly disapproving. “He just sees me as a.. little brother or something.”

“Aren’t you older than him?” Morgana pointed out.

“Older.. Older brother.” Merlin corrected. “Just a good older brother taking care of his.. younger little brother Arthur.”

“You know Merlin, for your ‘little brother’, Arthur did seem awfully interested in your sex life.” Will commented. “He even made a very interesting comment about the two of you being ‘friends with benefits..”

“Oh for fucks sake..”


	2. Whoop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur just wants Merlin to be safe. Morgana is confused.

“Will, what is this?” Arthur held a weird looking stone in front of Will’s face, snapping him out of his concentration. He was working hard on making Merlin a gift out of wood, and didn’t appreciate Arthur bothering him.

“It’s a.. death stone.” Will said, trying to keep a neutral look on his face. “It just straight up kills you if you hold it for too long.”

“Wait what?” Arthur looked at it and back at Will. “There is no such thing! My father told me it’s a protective stone a while back.”

“Ah yes, I was just messing with you.” Will said. “Clearly a protective stone.”

“Do you know if it’s safe to use?” Arthur fidgeted, looking it over a few times.

“Hmm.. not entirely sure. If you leave it with me I will check it. Whatever do you need this for?” Will asked, putting his project away.

“I was just thinking of giving Merlin some type of protection. Lately I’ve realized he’s been coming with us on quests without any armor or any protection whatsoever.” Arthur crossed his arms and shook his head. “He could’ve been killed at least 100 times by now.”

“Wait you only realized that just now?” Will said, letting out a laugh of disbelief. “You know Arthur, Merlin did tell me you were more the warrior type than the logical thinking type..”

“Oh ha ha Arthur is a dumbass.” Arthur frowned. “It’s not like Merlin is any more educated than I am.”

“Actually, you would be surprised.” Will thought out loud, smiling. “Merlin can be very knowledgable and wise if he wants to.”

“Wow he really must have put some sort of love spell on you for you to even say something like that. Perhaps Merlin is the real sorcerer among us. Would suit the sneaky asshole too.” Arthur joked, making Will almost go into a sweat.

“Imagine that.” Will said, forcing a smile on his face.

“There is no way. Could you imagine, Merlin off all people?!” Arthur laughed, shaking his head. 

“Haha!” Will forced out. “Yep, definitely not Merlin.”

“Anyhow, if you could check the stone for me that would be great. If it is truly a protective stone I was thinking about making a necklace out of it and gifting it to Merlin.” Arthur said, staring at the stone. “I kind of stole this from Camelot’s faults so I advice you not to show it to anyone.”

“You know Arthur, you must really love Merlin a lot for you to do this.” Will pointed out.

“W-what? Oh no I just don’t... I don’t want Merlin to die is all. I mean that would be bad.. Yeah really really bad.” Arthur said, and Will swore the tip of his ears were turning red just a little. “I mean of course I care, I do care! I just don’t.. love.. him. Nope.”

“Uh-huh.” Will said. 

“It’s just that he’s so.. incompetent that someone should take care of him, right? I mean he’s basically skin and bones and he can’t fight! So what if I give him some of my food and try to protect him? I’m just doing my duty as a prince by protecting.. my people.” Arthur started rambling. “I MEAN.. NOT THAT MERLIN IS MINE.. HE’S NOT MY PEOPLE.. MY MAN... NO HE’S NOT.”

“...Alright.” Will was just staring at his face in amusement. 

Just at that moment, Merlin walked in, whistling and almost skipping into the room.

“Hey Will, oh hey Arthur!” He greeted. “What are you two doing?”

“Oh just some magic stuff, Arthur was just telling me how much he cares for you and thinks you should eat more.” Will said.

“What! No I said that I care for everyone!” Arthur said quickly. “I don’t care for Merlin- I mean I do but also I don’t care care.. I bro care.”

Merlin raised an eyebrow. “Will, are you teasing Arthur again?”

“Just a little. He got you this stone by the way.” Will tossed it to Merlin who caught it kind of clumsily.

“I didn’t get it for you I just thought that it would.. suit you.” Arthur coughed.

“You got me a... what is this exactly?” Merlin easily lied, looking at Will.

“A protective stone.” Will smiled.

“Ah I see!” Merlin turned it around a few times. “It’s really nice Arthur, thank you.”

“You can’t have it yet.” Arthur snatched it out of Merlin’s hands, quickly handing it back to Will. “Will has to make sure it’s safe first. And after that you must hide it well on yourself.”

“Arthur while I really appreciate your gift, since this is basically the first and only gift you have ever given me.. I’m just curios about the reason why?” Merlin asked, a little bewildered.

“Ah.. well I just thought you should have a little protection. After our last trip in the woods I just had you on my mind a lot... I MEAN NOT THAT I CONSTANTLY THINK OF YOU. THAT’S WEIRD.” Arthur rambled. “I’m talking about when you got hit with an arrow.”

“Oh you mean that arrow in his ass?” Will asked.

“Yes that one.” Arthur nodded. 

“You know changing the bandaging was pretty fun with that one.” Will wiggled his eyebrows at Arthur, making the prince turn red instantly.

“Thanks for reminding me EVERY WEEK about this guys.” Merlin sighed.

“You’re getting protection and that is final Merlin.” Arthur said, clearing his throat. “I’ve also made some arrangements for a custom piece of armor for both Will and you.”

“Huh?” Will and Merlin asked at the same time.

“Since you two will be with me a lot and are endangered, I figured this was the least I could do. It’s just two pieces of light armor, easy to move in and not that heavy. It’s not the most protective but it could at least help a little with.. arrow problems.” Arthur explained.

“Wow. I should get shot in the ass more. That’s two gifts within the span of a DAY!” Merlin laughed. “If all I have to do is have a sore ass the next day and in return I get a bunch of gifts from Arthur I’d bent over right here.”

Right at that last sentence, Morgana walked in and completely froze, raising an eyebrow.

The three of them stared at her, not even sure what to say.

“Um.. I was just...” Morgana’s eyes darted between the three of them quickly. “I’m sure I misunderstood..”

“Yes!” All three of them shouted. 

“...Right.” Morgana nodded. “Total misunderstanding.”

—

“Hey Gwen, remember that one story we read when we were just teenagers.. the one with that one couple and there was something wrong with a prince.” Morgana said, motioning her servant to come sit next to her on the bed.

“Wait what are you- oh!” Gwen suddenly piped up. “The one about that cursed prince.”

“Yes.. remember how in the story the main couple get together and then a chapter later something happened that shocked us both back then.” Morgana said, her voice confused and small.

Gwen blinked a few times, trying really hard to remember what Morgana meant. “You mean the one.. where there were 3 people in love with each other.. instead of two?” Gwen asked.

Morgana nods, thinking about Merlin, Will and Arthur and the weird situation she walked into this morning. They reminded her of this book.

She remembers their exact reaction to this outrageous story back in the day. The two of them loved to read books until the late hours of the night, and Gwen would often end up falling asleep next to her. They read tragedies, mystery, fantasy and action.. but their favorite ones were the love stories. Morgana could never forget the day they stumbled upon a book where the main couple were two girls. The shock they had, the secret delight and desire they tried to hide when the couple shared their first kiss.

A memory suddenly flooded her mind, an image of Gwen and Morgana on top of her bed, whispering to each other. In this memory, Morgana hesitantly asks Gwen what she thought of the story. Gwen answers she liked it with just as much hesitance. ‘Shall we read one more.. like this?’ Morgana suggests. Gwen smiles and nods. ‘I’d like that.’

Morgana snapped out of it when Gwen put a hand on her shoulder, looking concerned. “My lady?”

“Oh.. I’m sorry, I just have a lot on my mind.” Morgana smiles. “It’s just that I walked into this absurd thing this morning...”


End file.
